Simply Beautiful Boxmaking...

In the morning I begin my class at Marc Adams School, Simply Beautiful Boxmaking. I've 17 signed up for the class with many returning from my two day weekend class which we completed this afternoon. I will have photos to share each day this week. Most human beings have some degree of interest in making beautiful and useful things, and boxes are each of these things. They are perfect for developing skills and provide a foundation for moving on to more complicated and larger work. The following is from Charles H. Ham on the Co-education of mind and hand:

As words are essential to the process of thought, so objects are essential to words or living speech. And as all objects made by man owe their existence to the hand it follows that the hand exerts an incalculable influence upon the mind, and so constitutes the most potent agency in the work of civilization.

The world moves very fast industrially, but very slow intellectually and morally. What we need more than better artisans is better men in what are termed the learned professions. Farmers and mechanics stand the test of scrutiny better than merchants. Civil engineers and architects are more competent in their professions than lawyers, judges and legislators. Why? Because the former classes are trained in things, while the education of the latter is confined to abstractions. It is notorious, for example, that the laws, in this country are not faithfully executed. What if through the ignorance or indolence of farmers, there were such a failure of crops as there is of justice? We should all starve!

As I watch the news from my hotel room, I wish that all politicians could be engaged in craftsmanship that they might learn better to adhere to the lessons one can learn by being more deeply engaged in reality and feel the sense of responsibility to the truth that one might learn from working with wood. The process of fudging reality seems to have grown exponentially. If politicians are free to just make things up, why can't the rest of folks do just the same? As I was standing at the service counter at the Nissan dealer in south Indianapolis, the service technician made ups such a far-fetched explanation of why my tire pressure sensors were going on and off, I finally had to just look her in the eyes, and say, "I'm sorry, I just don't believe you?" My simple and direct response seems to have come as a shock, but just making things up to offer pretense of expertise is not a healthy habit to display.

Make, fix and create...